scholarly journals Pleistocene golden mole and sand-swimming trace fossils from the Cape coast of South Africa

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Martin G. Lockley ◽  
Charles W. Helm ◽  
Hayley C. Cawthra ◽  
Jan C. De Vynck ◽  
Michael R. Perrin
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Trace Fossils ◽  
Trace Fossil ◽  
South Coast ◽  
Environmental Reconstruction ◽  
Cape Coast ◽  
Southeast Coast ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
Golden Mole ◽  
Body Fossil

Abstract More than 250 Pleistocene vertebrate trace fossil sites have been identified on the Cape south coast of South Africa in aeolianites and cemented foreshore deposits. These discoveries, representing the epifaunal tracks of animals that moved over these sand substrates, complement traditional body fossil studies, and contribute to palaeo-environmental reconstruction. Not described in detail until now, but also important faunal components, are the infaunal traces of animals that moved within these sandy substrates. Six golden mole burrow trace sites (Family Chrysochloridae) have been identified on the Cape south coast. In addition, three sites, including one on the Cape southeast coast, have been identified that show evidence of sand-swimming, probably by a golden mole with a means of locomotion similar to that of the extant Eremitalpa genus. Such traces have not been described in detail in the global ichnology record, and merit the erection of a new ichnogenus Natatorichnus, with two ichnospecies, N. subarenosa ichnosp. nov and N. sulcatus ichnosp. nov. Care is required in the identification of such traces, and the orientation of the trace fossil surface needs to be determined, to avoid confusion with hatchling turtle tracks. Substantial regional Pleistocene dune environments are inferred from these sand-swimming traces.

scholarly journals The Pleistocene fauna of the Cape south coast revealed through ichnology at two localities

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (1/2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles W. Helm ◽  
Hayley C. Cawthra ◽  
Jan C. de Vynck ◽  
Martin G. Lockley ◽  
Richard T. McCrea ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Trace Fossil ◽  
South Coast ◽  
Ex Situ ◽  
Faunal Assemblages ◽  
Bedding Planes ◽  
Adjacent Site ◽  
Golden Mole ◽  
Body Fossil

East of Still Bay on the Cape south coast of South Africa lies a rugged, remote stretch of sea cliffs that expose Late Pleistocene aeolianites. A zone of dense concentration of fossil tracks occurs within this area. Two large rocks, which we call Roberts Rock and Megafauna Rock, were identified ~400 metres apart. These rocks contained a variety of trackways, individual tracks, burrow traces and invertebrate trace fossils on multiple bedding planes. Both rocks were found ex situ, but their context could be determined. Roberts Rock has subsequently slid into the ocean, and Megafauna Rock lies at the base of a coastal cliff. Probable trackmakers include elephant, long-horned buffalo, giant Cape horse, rhinoceros, medium and small artiodactyls, golden mole, birds and invertebrates. Dating studies at an adjacent site, which is comparable to the stratigraphy described here, indicate that both rocks were most likely deposited in Marine Isotope Stage 5e (~128–116 ka). Analysis and description of these tracksites confirms the potential of ichnology to complement the skeletal fossil record and to enhance the understanding of Pleistocene life in southern Africa. The ephemeral nature of such tracksites makes repeated visits to this coastline desirable, both to monitor the fate of known sites and to search for newly exposed trace fossil surfaces. Significance: • Roberts Rock and Megafauna Rock are two remarkable fossil tracksites on the Cape south coast, which contain tracks of four members of the Late Pleistocene megafauna. They provide a glimpse of Pleistocene dune life and suggest an area teeming with large mammals. • These tracks were made on dune surfaces near an interface between the grassland of the Palaeo-Agulhas Plain and the inland Fynbos–Strandveld–Renosterveld. Faunal assemblages from both vegetation zones might therefore be recorded. • The trace fossil record and body fossil record both have inherent biases, but have the potential to independently provide complementary information on palaeofaunal composition. • The two rocks have provided the first South African records of fossil elephant tracks (as first described by Dave Roberts and colleagues in 2008), the first rhinoceros track and the first extinct giant Cape horse track, and track evidence of the extinct long-horned buffalo. • Roberts Rock has slumped into the ocean, and it provides an example of the fate of many exposed tracksites. Conversely, new sites frequently become exposed. This scenario stresses the need for regular ichnological surveys along this track-rich coastline to monitor existing sites and to search for new sites.

scholarly journals Pleistocene reptile swim traces confirmed from South Africa’s Cape south coast

2021 ◽  
Vol 117 (3/4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Helm ◽  
Martin G. Lockley
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Trace Fossils ◽  
South Coast ◽  
Definitive Evidence ◽  
Nile Crocodile

arge Pleistocene reptile tracks and traces were described from the Cape south coast of South Africa in 2020, including ‘probable swim traces’. These trace fossils were found on loose slabs and blocks of the Klein Brak Formation. Subsequently, another surface has become exposed on this coastline, also on a loose slab. It exhibits more definitive evidence of swim traces in epirelief, probably made by the Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) or water monitor (Varanus niloticus), although a chelonian origin cannot be excluded. Length of a possible crocodylian trackmaker was estimated from measurements of interdigital distance in the swim traces. These provide a compelling example of reptile swim traces from Africa.

New ichnofabrics of the Cenomanian–Danian Chalk Group

2020 ◽  
Vol 90 (7) ◽  
pp. 701-712
Author(s):  
Kasper H. Blinkenberg ◽  
Bodil W. Lauridsen ◽  
Dirk Knaust ◽  
Lars Stemmerik
Keyword(s):  
Trace Fossils ◽  
Trace Fossil ◽  
Shelf Area ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Fossil Assemblages ◽  
Facies Types ◽  
Body Fossil ◽  
Substrate Hardness ◽  
Nw Europe ◽  
Different Levels

ABSTRACT The Cenomanian–Danian Chalk Group of NW Europe is characterized by distinct trace-fossil assemblages dominated by Thalassinoides isp., Planolites isp., Zoophycos isp., and Chondrites isp., whereas ichnogenera such as Taenidium and Phycosiphon are rare. The trace fossils form a complex tiering arrangement, which reflects burrowing activities of diverse benthic associations that operate at different levels in the sediment column, dynamic sedimentation rates, and changes in substrate hardness during progressive burial, forming intricate ichnofabrics. In the Danish Basin, studies of chalk ichnofabrics have focused mainly on the Maastrichtian. Studies of the shallower, grain-rich Danian chalk have revealed similar trace-fossil assemblages, whereas the ichnology of the fine-grained, deeper-water Danian deposits is poorly known. Based on detailed facies and ichnofabric analysis of a mid-Danian silica-rich, pelagic chalk located in the central, deeper shelf area of the Danish Basin, four facies types, eight ichnotaxa, and two ichnofabrics are recognized. Most conspicuous and abundant are randomly distributed, variously sized meniscate burrows attributed to Bichordites isp. and Taenidium isp., whereas other common chalk trace fossils are rare or absent. This trace-fossil assemblage outlines two new ichnofabrics in the NW European chalk, which are dominated principally by upper-tier traces. The producer of the abundant Bichordites isp. and Taenidium isp. burrows is identified as a sea urchin on the basis of an exceptionally preserved Bichordites isp. trace aligned with an irregular echinoid body fossil. The identified ichnofabrics controlled early silicification and produced a more complex distribution of silica concretions compared with chalk successions elsewhere. This results in volumetrically thick silica concretion-rich units rather than distinctive silica bands as seen in other Upper Cretaceous and Danian chalk units.

scholarly journals Early humans recipe for processing plants foods at Blombos Cave, South Africa (85-82 ka)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia Larbey ◽  
Karen van Niekerk ◽  
Christopher Henshilwood ◽  
Martin Jones
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Food Processing ◽  
Middle Stone Age ◽  
Cape Coast ◽  
Early Humans ◽  
Processing Plants ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
Blombos Cave ◽  
Early Human

Abstract We present the results of archaeobotanical research conducted into the plant diet of early modern humans who intermittently occupied Blombos Cave on the southern Cape coast of South Africa during the Middle Stone Age (MSA). Botanical samples were taken from two combustion events in the MSA sequence dated to 85 and 82 kya (kya = thousands of years ago). Analysis of these samples shows charred starchy plants had undergone processing sequences prior to cooking. The plant cells show evidence of having been pounded whilst still fresh and some of these fragments indicate pounded starchy plant food was mixed with pounded seeds prior to cooking. We infer that these samples represent the earliest known example of food processing and mixing in a ‘recipe’ as part of early human foodways. We consider these findings and their role in human evolution in the context of human behavioural modernity.

scholarly journals Trace fossils from the Lower and Middle Jurassic marginal marine deposits of the Sorthat Formation, Bornholm, Denmark

2003 ◽  
Vol 50 ◽  
pp. 185-208
Author(s):  
Richard G. Bromley
Keyword(s):  
Middle Jurassic ◽  
Trace Fossils ◽  
Trace Fossil ◽  
South Coast ◽  
Marine Environments ◽  
Salinity Fluctuation ◽  
Fossil Assemblage ◽  
Marine Deposits ◽  
Low Degree ◽  
The Baltic

The Lower to Middle Jurassic Sorthat and Bagå Formations of the Baltic island of Bornholm, Denmark, are a predominantly fluviatile unit. On the south coast of the island at Korsodde, however, an interval within the Sorthat Formation contains a diverse trace fossil assemblage indicating a marine incursion. Study of this interval revealed 15 ichnotaxa, among which one is new: Bornichnus tortuosus nov. igen. et isp. Several of the trace fossils present are generally considered characteristic of the lower shoreface to offshore environments (e.g. Teichichnus and Asterosoma). However, the low degree of bioturbation and ichnodiversity, and sedimentological features, indicate an environment influenced by salinity fluctuation, probably a tidally influenced delta. Five ichnofabrics are defined that describe this setting and which may be indicative of marginal-marine environments that are influenced by salinity fluctuations.

scholarly journals Ecological innovations in the Cambrian and the origins of the crown group phyla

2016 ◽  
Vol 371 (1685) ◽  
pp. 20150287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham E. Budd ◽  
Illiam S. C. Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Record ◽  
Early Period ◽  
Trace Fossils ◽  
The Body ◽  
Trace Fossil ◽  
Simulation Studies ◽  
Crown Group ◽  
Relative Lack ◽  
Rapid Diversification ◽  
Body Fossil

Simulation studies of the early origins of the modern phyla in the fossil record, and the rapid diversification that led to them, show that these are inevitable outcomes of rapid and long-lasting radiations. Recent advances in Cambrian stratigraphy have revealed a more precise picture of the early bilaterian radiation taking place during the earliest Terreneuvian Series, although several ambiguities remain. The early period is dominated by various tubes and a moderately diverse trace fossil record, with the classical ‘Tommotian’ small shelly biota beginning to appear some millions of years after the base of the Cambrian at ca 541 Ma. The body fossil record of the earliest period contains a few representatives of known groups, but most of the record is of uncertain affinity. Early trace fossils can be assigned to ecdysozoans, but deuterostome and even spiralian trace and body fossils are less clearly represented. One way of explaining the relative lack of clear spiralian fossils until about 536 Ma is to assign the various lowest Cambrian tubes to various stem-group lophotrochozoans, with the implication that the groundplan of the lophotrochozoans included a U-shaped gut and a sessile habit. The implication of this view would be that the vagrant lifestyle of annelids, nemerteans and molluscs would be independently derived from such a sessile ancestor, with potentially important implications for the homology of their sensory and nervous systems.

Cranial crassicaudiasis in two coastal dolphin species from South Africa is predominantly a disease of immature individuals

2020 ◽  
Vol 139 ◽  
pp. 93-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
MF Van Bressem ◽  
P Duignan ◽  
JA Raga ◽  
K Van Waerebeek ◽  
N Fraijia-Fernández ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Bone Development ◽  
Bottlenose Dolphins ◽  
Fatal Outcome ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Cape Coast ◽  
Osteolytic Lesions ◽  
Immune Mediated ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Difference

Crassicauda spp. (Nematoda) infest the cranial sinuses of several odontocetes, causing diagnostic trabecular osteolytic lesions. We examined skulls of 77 Indian Ocean humpback dolphins Sousa plumbea and 69 Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins Tursiops aduncus, caught in bather-protecting nets off KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) from 1970-2017, and skulls of 6 S. plumbea stranded along the southern Cape coast in South Africa from 1963-2002. Prevalence of cranial crassicaudiasis was evaluated according to sex and cranial maturity. Overall, prevalence in S. plumbea and T. aduncus taken off KZN was 13 and 31.9%, respectively. Parasitosis variably affected 1 or more cranial bones (frontal, pterygoid, maxillary and sphenoid). No significant difference was found by gender for either species, allowing sexes to be pooled. However, there was a significant difference in lesion prevalence by age, with immature T. aduncus 4.6 times more likely affected than adults, while for S. plumbea, the difference was 6.5-fold. As severe osteolytic lesions are unlikely to heal without trace, we propose that infection is more likely to have a fatal outcome for immature dolphins, possibly because of incomplete bone development, lower immune competence in clearing parasites or an over-exuberant inflammatory response in concert with parasitic enzymatic erosion. Cranial osteolysis was not observed in mature males (18 S. plumbea, 21 T. aduncus), suggesting potential cohort-linked immune-mediated resistance to infestation. Crassicauda spp. may play a role in the natural mortality of S. plumbea and T. aduncus, but the pathogenesis and population level impact remain unknown.

Lithostratigraphy of the Kweekvlei Formation (Witteberg Group), Cape Supergroup

2017 ◽  
Vol 120 (3) ◽  
pp. 421-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Browning ◽  
M. Reid
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Transition Zone ◽  
Distal Part ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Trace Fossil ◽  
Plant Debris ◽  
Lower Carboniferous ◽  
Fossil Assemblage ◽  
Low Diversity ◽  
Storm Wave

AbstractThe Lower Carboniferous, probably Tournaisian, Kweekvlei Formation is part of the Witteberg Group (Cape Supergroup) of South Africa. Together with the overlying Floriskraal Formation, it forms an upward-coarsening succession within the Lake Mentz Subgroup. Sedimentary features of the Kweekvlei Formation suggest deposition in a storm-wave dominated marine setting, within the storm-influenced, distal part of an offshore transition zone environment. This predominantly argillaceous formation preserves a low diversity trace fossil assemblage. Reworked vascular plant debris (including the problematic genus Praeramunculus sp.) and a shark spine have been reported for the Kweekvlei Formation. There are no known stratigraphic equivalents in South Africa.

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